Stock Market News: Dow Slips to Start December

The Dow didn’t hold onto its initial gains as market breadth was weak to start December.

The blue-chip index was down 200 points, or 0.5%, after opening the day higher. Within the index, 19 of its 30 stocks were trading lower, and the ones that were have a lot of weight in the index. The S&P 500 was up 0.2%, but only 139 of its stocks were rising. The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.9%.

The Dow is a price-weighted index, which means an individual firm’s weight is determined by its stock price, rather than its market capitalization. That means declines for stocks like Amgen, JPMorgan Chase, and UnitedHealth Group were packing a serious punch.

For the S&P, it was benefiting from gains among tech and cruise firms. The index was led by Super Micro Computer, Norwegian Cruse Line Holdings, Carnival, and Tesla. The iShares Semiconductor ETF, after struggling in November, was up 1.3% today.

Consumer discretionary, technology, and communication services were the only major S&P 500 sectors on the rise, but they contain most of the S&P’s most important stocks including Nvidia and other Magnificent Seven stocks. The Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF, which offers exposure to the much-watched group of megacap tech stocks, was up 1.4%.

Consumer staples, energy, financials, health care, industrials, materials, and real estate were all down 0.4% or more.